Rafferty Asset Management LLC Raises Position in First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. $FIBK

Rafferty Asset Management LLC boosted its position in shares of First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. (NASDAQ:FIBK) by 15.4% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 144,987 shares of the financial services provider’s stock after buying an additional 19,345 shares during the period. Rafferty Asset Management LLC’s holdings in First Interstate BancSystem were worth $4,621,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 37.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 67,214 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,926,000 after purchasing an additional 18,210 shares in the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in First Interstate BancSystem by 4.6% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 47,230 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $1,353,000 after purchasing an additional 2,070 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of First Interstate BancSystem during the first quarter worth $238,000. Jones Financial Companies Lllp raised its position in shares of First Interstate BancSystem by 24,352.5% in the first quarter. Jones Financial Companies Lllp now owns 24,697 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $708,000 after buying an additional 24,596 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of First Interstate BancSystem in the first quarter worth about $5,125,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 88.71% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently issued reports on FIBK shares. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of First Interstate BancSystem from $38.00 to $36.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Wall Street Zen cut First Interstate BancSystem from a “hold” rating to a “sell” rating in a report on Sunday, February 15th. UBS Group reiterated a “neutral” rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of First Interstate BancSystem in a research report on Wednesday, February 4th. DA Davidson restated a “buy” rating and issued a $42.00 target price on shares of First Interstate BancSystem in a report on Thursday, January 29th. Finally, Keefe, Bruyette & Woods raised their target price on First Interstate BancSystem from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 17th. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, four have issued a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, First Interstate BancSystem currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $38.17.

First Interstate BancSystem Price Performance

FIBK stock opened at $34.73 on Wednesday. First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. has a 52-week low of $22.95 and a 52-week high of $39.26. The company has a quick ratio of 0.72, a current ratio of 0.72 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.09. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.77 and a beta of 0.77. The business has a fifty day moving average of $36.70 and a two-hundred day moving average of $33.92.

First Interstate BancSystem (NASDAQ:FIBK) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 28th. The financial services provider reported $1.08 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.64 by $0.44. The business had revenue of $205.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $256.89 million. First Interstate BancSystem had a return on equity of 8.83% and a net margin of 21.40%.The company’s revenue was up 19.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.50 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that First Interstate BancSystem, Inc. will post 2.53 earnings per share for the current year.

First Interstate BancSystem Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, February 20th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th were given a dividend of $0.47 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $1.88 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.4%. First Interstate BancSystem’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 63.73%.

Insider Buying and Selling at First Interstate BancSystem

In other news, major shareholder Jonathan R. Scott sold 1,827 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $36.92, for a total value of $67,452.84. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 936,024 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,558,006.08. The trade was a 0.19% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 8.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About First Interstate BancSystem

First Interstate BancSystem, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Billings, Montana. Through its principal subsidiary, First Interstate Bank, the company provides a full range of commercial and consumer banking services. Its offerings include business lending, commercial real estate financing, agricultural loans, residential mortgage products, and deposit accounts suitable for individuals, small businesses, and large corporations.

The company traces its roots back to the late 1960s and has grown through a combination of organic expansion and strategic acquisitions across the Western United States.